Chapter 4: Newtopian Wedding Bells from Hell!
Alternate title: Welcome to My Twisted Reality!
'Anne viewed a possible image of her future, a manipulation tactic of the core's to break the guardian's spirits. Will such a discovery stop Darcy's plans for the greatest show in Newtopia? What will Anne's role be as the star of the show?'
Previously
Anne was completely back to normal as her powers fizzled out. Due to the supercomputer's strength and defenses, Anne was quickly weakened and could not defend herself. Being at the hivemind's mercy was the last thing she wanted or needed!
Releasing the teen's fist, Darcy sternly looked down at Anne who began nursing her right hand in her left. Seeing her victim broken and helpless before her was always a delightful view for Darcy.
"Alright, we've wasted enough time." Darcy calmly, but sternly spoke. "We have a glorious performance to put on for all of Newtopia and lucky for you, you are the shining star that will be center stage."
Looking up to Darcy, Anne's teary eyes caught with the vision of ten muted orange eyes as Darcy extended her right hand for Anne to take. Looking to the computer's hand, Anne looked between it and Darcy with caution.
"I promise I won't bite this time." Darcy smirked as she continued holding out her right hand for Anne to take.
Feeling defeated at the hands of her captor, Anne slowly extended her left hand and placed it into Darcy's right as the hivemind helped Anne to her feet. Pulling the teen against her, Darcy's eyes immediately fell to Anne's lips, but just as quickly caught back with her vision.
"You're shaking badly Savisa." Darcy stated in a loud whisper as she loosened her grip on Anne just a hair. "Come, lets get you into something more comfortable so you'll be ready to perform."
No words were spoken between the pair as Darcy escorted Anne out of the dark room and back into the hallway. A frobot passed the pair in the background as it carefully carried a burgundy pillow with one big and two small control collars sitting atop it….
Currently
Song played: Falling Away by Seven Lions feat. Lights (Festival Remix)
Fungi Forest (Midpoint between Wartwood and Newtopia)
Having escaped Darcy's floating fortress, the remaining resistance members arrived to their satellite base in Fungi Forest to regroup. From Sasha to Hopidiah Plantar, the resistance members ran a distance to evade further capture by Darcy's army and were out of breath. Grime, Polly, Sprig, Olivia, and Yunan collapsed to the lush green grass beneath them as they continued trying to catch their breath from the marathon they endured.
"Tell me why we did not think to call Joe or Domino II to fly us out here?!" Grime gripped as he continued trying to catch his breath. "It would have made getting out here that much easier!"
"We couldn't risk losing our only method of air travel Grime." Sasha calmly stated as she sat down while continuing to catch her breath. "Had we taken Joe or Domino 2, Darcy would have disabled a critical part of our plan to make our way back to the castle to rescue Anne. Saving her from Darcy's clutches is our main priority right now and we can't afford to make any mistakes."
"It still wouldn't have been a bad idea though." Polly quipped as she inhaled, having fully caught her breath. "I had no idea how much maintenance these legs require and don't know how any of you manage."
"They're just legs Polly, not coppers." Sprig huffed as he collapsed to the ground next to Olivia.
"Well she does have a point Sprig." Hop pop chimed as he fell to his knees while rubbing his back. "These ol' legs of mine aren't what they used to be."
"This is what we get for traveling with frogs!" Grime mumbled under his breath.
"Running from a challenge has never been my style!" General Yunan griped as her adamantium claws extended from the knuckles of her gloves at the thought of Darcy's smug expression. "If I had one good shot at Darcy, I'd rip her to shreds in a matter of seconds!"
Having heard Yunnan's statement concerning Darcy, Sasha quickly became angry at the Newt as she turned to her, Yunan knowing exactly who Darcy was underneath the armor. A young naive girl who made a mistake out of panic and already paid the price when she was stabbed through the chest by Andrias and possibly rejected by her best friends when the truth came out concerning stranding them in Amphibia purposely. The mere thought of Marcy enduring yet another beating, mental or physical, was a thought Sasha could not process despite her own feelings about the situation. Getting to her feet, Sasha tightly clenched her fists as she narrowed her eyes at the newt.
"And what would that solve huh?!" Sasha snapped at Yunan, grabbing the young newt by surprise. "You'd be hurting someone who has no more control over this than any of us! You were there when Marcy was possessed by that thing and now you want to rip her a part for something other souls are making her do to us?! She's trapped, scared, and can't control anything that maniac Darcy throws at us! Yes, I'm just as upset about this as any of you, but I'm willing to save Marcy from this, not put her through more torture than she's already enduring! Wasn't seeing her nearly killed in front of us enough?!"
"Yes commander, but-" Yunan began stammering, but was abruptly cut off by Sasha's continued rant.
"As a general of one of the most noble lands of Amphibia, your job is to protect and serve, but you are only serving your own selfish interests!" Sasha continued as she squinted her eyes and turned away from the crowd. "Some general you turned out to be and if I could, I'd strip you of your title in a heartbeat!"
Roughly releasing a restricted breath, Sasha then stormed through the door of the satellite base as the old wooden door slammed behind her. Everyone exchanged shocked glances, unsure of how to proceed after their commander's outburst.
"Oh dear." Olivia spoke, barely above a whisper. To that point, Olivia has never seen Sasha that upset before.
Grime cleared his throat and climbed to his feet. If anyone knew how to calm down the blonde bombshell hothead, it was her toad father himself.
"I'll go run damage control." Grime stated as he broke the tension among the group.
The toad's footsteps walked through the door of the base as the old wooden door creaked open. Looking ahead of him to the strategy table in the middle of the room sat Sasha, as she gazed at the picture of her two best friends in silence. The maps and plans that were normally laid across the surface of the table were neatly rolled up and stacked in front of the commander. Taking steps away from the door, Grime's footsteps halted as the blonde spoke up.
"Before you even say it, I was wrong for what I said to Yunan." Sasha spoke as she kept her eyes glued to the picture of her two friends. "I shouldn't have never snapped at her like that."
"Well." Grime began as he approached the table and took a seat next to his daughter. "In her defense, she was speaking in general terms regarding the situation, not particularly towards Marcy."
"And I know that, but poor Marcy." Sasha continued as she turned to Grime, tears beginning to surface. "She didn't ask for this, none of us did, but here we are. Darcy is the monster controlling all of this and poor Marcy has no say in what took place, she still doesn't."
Sasha wiped her tears away as tried gathering herself.
"I know what Marcy did was wrong when she stranded us here because she didn't want to move away from Anne and I." Sasha continued. "But she paid for it ok? She was stabbed through the chest, she was nearly killed in front of us, and she was possessed! I can't imagine what she was thinking or feeling when all of that happened, but Marcy does and I know she would tell us how sorry she is for everything if given the chance again. I just don't want her to suffer any more than she already has."
"Trust me Sasha, I do understand where you are coming from and none of us likes this anymore than you do." Grime stated in a calming tone. "But we must focus on the task at hand which is to save Anne and put an end to the Andrias/Darcy reign once and for all. Even if it means ripping out a few guts/intestines if need be and maybe use them as party streamers once this is all over."
Grime's ending statement brought a small smile to the blonde's face as she wiped away more tears.
"I'll even save the biggest one for you." Grime chuckled a bit as Sasha's smile grew wider. Sasha playfully shoved Grime as she chuckled louder at her father's statement. "Here's looking at you Andrias!"
"Only you Grimesy." Sasha continued smiling. Turning back to the picture of the trio grasped in her right hand, Sasha's smile fell as her thoughts returned to the controversy surrounding the three.
"I failed them didn't I Grime?" Sasha sadly inquired. "I tried so hard to control every aspect of our friendship, especially with Anne. I tried so hard to control her and was such a horrible friend to her. And Marcy…"
Tears surfaced in Sasha's eyes once more.
"I failed to even notice her as a person let alone a friend." Sasha continued as she wiped her eyes once more. "All of her interests, the weird things she would say and do, and how she was fascinated with everything. Because I couldn't see past what my parents didn't give me, I failed to give it to her and Anne. Maybe this is how it should be, maybe I should be alone because I certainly was not a good person to them."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that now." Grime continued in a nurturing tone. "You have all made mistakes, true, but you all have grown as well while being here, especially you. When I met you, I was just a bully in a tower that sought control at every turn, but you came along and made me a better toad. I learned from you how to obtain support, respect, and appreciation from others that would later foster respect and admiration, not to mention a large following. I have come to see you as my own daughter who I had the pleasure of seeing grow up into who she is now, but is also someone I won't hesitate to correct if I have to."
A small smile crept across Sasha's face as she turned to her toad father, the only parental figure who accepted Sasha for the good and the bad. Grime has been more of a father figure to her than her own father in her perspective.
"As cliché as this sounds." Grime continued as he cleared his throat. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You three will find a way to turn this around and I have the utmost confidence in you, lieutenant, that you will lead the way."
"Thanks dad." Sasha calmly replied as she leaned over on Grime's shoulder while releasing the sigh she felt she had held in for quite some time. "Did I ever tell you what a big softie you were?"
Just as Grime opened his mouth to reply to the blonde, a startling explosion broke the mindful calm within the base and shook the two out of their peaceful father-daughter moment. Another explosion immediately followed on the heels of the first that forced Sasha and Grime to take refuge on the floor for safety, the large toad using his body to cover the blonde for protection.
"Take cover!" Grime screamed as both covered their heads as parts of the bamboo and cement ceiling fell down around them.
"Darcy must have found us!" Sasha yelled as another explosion sounded outside the base.
"This forest is technically not on the Amphibian map!" Grime replied as he continued shielding Sasha to protect her as the ceiling continued falling around the two. "How was it detected?"
"This is Amphibia!" Sasha sighed in annoyance at her peaceful moment being ruined. "Is that even a question?!"
The door to the base suddenly flung open as the remainder of the resistance ran inside to take cover. Yunan, who was the last to come in and whose right-hand claws were dug into the chest of a frobot, sliced the robot in half and roundhouse kicked the remains outside of the base.
"And stay out!" Yunan shouted as she slammed the door to the base.
"That was a close one!" Hop pop panted as he flopped to the floor amongst the rubble. "I thought we were goners for sure!"
"What the heck is going on out there?!" Sasha inquired rather loudly as she climbed to her feet while helping Grime up. Another explosion sounded as the group huddled together.
"Darcy's army that's what!" Polly screamed as she flailed her arms around. "We were by the lake fishing when all of the frobots arrived and started shooting at us!"
"Good call Lieutenant." Grime proudly stated to Sasha as he dusted off himself and his cape off.
"Don't thank me just yet." Sasha huffed as she grabbed her dual wielding swords and spun them in preparation to strike. "How many are left and was anyone hurt?"
Before anyone could answer the blonde, the door to the base was blasted open with a slew of frobots quickly entering and surrounding the group.
"That many." Olivia choked out as she placed her back against Yunan's. Polly and Sprig pulled out their weapons as they stood back to back ready to fight the incoming invaders.
Eying the robots and mentally counting off the tin steels around them, Sasha cracked a grin.
"Looks like we're breaking even." Sasha smirked wider as she spun her swords once more. "Alright everyone, initiate attack plan Blow Back!"
"I highly recommend you cease fire." Darcy's deranged voice rang out, sending a chill down everyone's spine. The frobots that stood in the dilapidated doorway of the base parted down the middle as a helmetless Darcy calmly waltzed into the base with her arms behind her back beneath her cape as her muted orange eyes caught with the blazing blue orbs of the blonde. "I come in peace."
"You've got mere seconds to state your peace or you'll be resting in it!" Sasha growled as her grin quickly changed to a menacing frown.
"My, my, my, aren't we hostile." Darcy darkly chuckled as she stopped two feet from the group, her eyes scanning every member as her expression changed to playfully hurt. "What a shame. I was expecting a souvenir to return to my beloved as proof that I kept my promise."
"Spit it out Darcy!" Sasha roared as took a step towards the dictator, but Grime grabbing her right arm stopped her in her tracks.
"I see my army didn't do the best job in cordially inviting you the greatest show Newtopia has ever seen." Darcy brightly stated as her expression quickly changed to menacing, her words brimming with venom. "So you can give your final farewells to Anne so she will never have to look at the likes of any of you ever again!"
Sasha felt her temper and blood pressure rush to the surface as she broke free from Grime's hold and lunged towards the menacingly grinning supercomputer. Darcy stood completely still as Sasha swiftly swung her right sword from left to right towards Darcy, the sword positioned to slice crosswise through Darcy's abdomen. The sword easily passed through Darcy as the image of her slightly glitched. Taking notice of the girl glitching, Sasha found herself in shock, but quickly overcame it. Growling once more, Sasha swung her left sword crosswise through Darcy while the girl giggled.
"Please stop." Darcy playfully pleaded. "You're tickling me."
"Hence why I held you back." Grime croaked as Sasha stepped back next to her father while trying to catch her breath.
"So I am cordially inviting you all to the beautiful and unforgettable nuptials of myself and Anne." Darcy stated as she flung her right hand into the air. "Be there or not. The choice is yours. Byyyeee!"
The image of Darcy then blinked out as the frobots closed the gap that was made for Darcy's entrance.
"Grime, Sprig, Hop-pop, Polly, grab as many boom shrooms as you can carry." Sasha instructed as she kept her vision locked to where Darcy stood. "We've got a wedding to crash!"
Newtopian Castle (Anne's Chambers)
The thai teen flinched as the thick bristled brush was roughly passed through her thick curls once more. Anne's teeth ground together as the frobot continued gathering her hair into a high ponytail.
"Any rougher and you'll be pulling my head and neck into that ponytail!" Anne snapped at the frobot as he tied the hairband around the teen's hair to secure the ponytail into place. Just as Anne turned to her vanity's mirror, a collage of blue flowers formed into a flower crown was roughly placed on the teen's head.
"Gee thanks for the final touches." Anne cracked to the frobot as it turned and left her chambers.
Taking in the image of herself, a sense of dread fell over the teen. Dressed in an ice blue Thai laro-sarong khmer wedding dress that matched the bindi on her forehead and ice blue floral under garment that was easily shown above the waistline of the dress, Anne's vision shot to the bustled bracelet on her left wrist before shooting back to the mirror in front of her. An overwhelming urge to cry hit the teen, but just as quickly rescinded. Teens her age were going to the mall, hanging out with friends, blowing their allowances on junk food and clothes, and talking back to their parents, but not this teen. This teen was getting ready to spend the rest of her life imprisoned to a computer that possessed her best friend and nearly possessed her. What she wouldn't give to be able to do what normal teens do in place of her current situation.
The feeling of dread was suddenly replaced with the determination and the idea of trying to reach Marcy during the ceremony as after all, Marcy would be standing up there with her so what better time to try and deescalate the situation despite how far in they both were?
Anne was suddenly snapped out of her train of thought when the large wooden doors to her room swung open, a black frobot entering to meet the girl.
"It's time." The frobot croaked as it gestured to Anne to leave her chambers.
"You guys don't know anything about privacy or knocking do you?" Anne quipped as she stood from her vanity and turned around to the open doors behind her, her eyes meeting with the darkness in the hallway. Inhaling and exhaling a deep breath, Anne began towards the doors with the determination to bring her friend back to her and Sasha.
"Hang in there Marcy." Anne stated to herself as she entered the hallway. "I'm going to get you out of there if it's the last thing I do."
Taking notice of the girl, the frobot in the hallway swooped in front of Anne causing her to stop in her tracks. The frobot's eyes clicked to green checkmarks as it turned it's back to Anne with the gesture to follow in it's tracks. The frobot traveled down the long winding hallway to a set of double doors that were decorated beautifully in blue and orange ribbons. Within minutes, the doors were flung open by another set of frobots to a scene that would forever burn in Anne's memory.
The ceiling of the room was decorated with blue and orange ribbons and running along the walls were the mechanical tentacles that Darcy utilized to outfit the castle. On the floor was a black and orange runner that led to the other side of the room that led to the alter where Andrias stood holding an ancient Newtopian book with the amphibian alphabet written on the cover. Standing not too far from him was Darcy who had a frobot standing behind her holding the ring pillow. On the wrist of Darcy's right hand was a glowing fuchsia chain that was attached to the big control collar that sat atop the ring pillow.
"Ah! There she is." Darcy spoke as she cracked a wide grin at the nervous thai teen. "Welcome my love."
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Anne began walking into the room slowly, unsure of what lied ahead of her with Andrias and Darcy involved. Darcy she was sure of, but with Andrias involved, she did not want to know! Taking a shaky step onto the runner, the double doors were immediately shut behind Anne, nearly making the teen jump out of her skin. Inhaling a breath to regain her composure, Anne walked down the aisle as her mind began scrambling for what she would say to Darcy to reach Marcy. Reaching the end of the runner, Anne stood a foot away from Darcy as her eyes caught with what the frobot was holding onto.
"Glad you could join us Savisa." Darcy stated as she slid closer to Anne. "And here I thought you got cold feet for as long as it took you to get here."
Anne ignored Darcy's statement and turned her attention to Andrias.
"Citizens of Newtopia! We are gathered here today to join this ruler and future queen in holy matrimony!" Andrias began the ceremony with a booming voice. "If anyone objects to this union, please speak now or forever hold your peace."
Andrias as well as Darcy and Anne looked amongst the crowd of terrified newtopian faces to hear who may or may not object to the forced union. The full room was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
"Or forever rest in it." Andrias cracked as the three continued looking amongst the crowd before Anne and Darcy turned back to Andrias.
"Thank you Andrias." Darcy then stated as she turned to her crestfallen betrothed. "I can take it from here. Shall we continue, my queen?"
"Listen Marcy!" Anne began speaking as quickly as she could before she was interrupted by Darcy or Andrias. "I know you're in there and can hear me! You can put a stop to…"
The clanking of the frobot's feet/armor was heard approaching the two at the altar, which quickly halted Anne's thought. Anne swirled around to find the robot holding the pillow with three control collars sitting on it, the biggest one standing out like a sore thumb. The blue calamity warrior grimaced at the sight of the "rings".
"Are those supposed to be the rings?" Anne questioned as she felt her stomach leap into her throat.
"That, my dear, depends on you." Darcy casually stated as she gestured to the frobot. "Wait until you to see the reception. You are going to have a gas of a time!"
"I REALLY don't like the sound of that." Anne stated as her eyes remained glued to ring pillow.
"Oh you'll love it Savisa and I'll make sure of that." Darcy continued as a creepy smile crept onto her face that made the guardian take a step back from her.
"Let us continue." Andrias continued as he opened the book in his hands. "Darcy, do you take…"
Andrias's thought was cut short by Darcy quickly speaking up.
"Since no one has the guts to object, I take Savisa as my wife, life partner, and most of all, my second in command." Darcy spoke rather quickly. "And Savisa takes me, Darcy, as her master and life partner who she shall serve without any objections, rejections, and recourse on her behalf! She will serve me and ONLY me so long as she lives!"
"Wait a minute, I didn't…" Anne began, but was cut off by Darcy slapping on the big control collar around her neck and just as quickly, the small control collars on her wrists. A chain appears between the two shackles on her wrists, linking both together.
"I may now kiss my Savisa! I DO!" Darcy happily screamed as she yanked on the chain attached to her wrist to pull Anne closer and slammed her lips onto the thai teen's lips. While the lips pressed against hers were Marcy's, the kiss would have been more enjoyable if she weren't kissing a ton of depraved souls living within her best friend's body and she were ACTUALLY kissing Marcy! Feeling Anne pushing her away, Darcy ended the kiss and caught sight of her new wife wiping the kiss from her lips.
Giggling at the sight of Anne wiping her mouth as if she ingested poison, the eyes of Darcy's helmet lit up, informing the ruler that intruders were on the castle's premises. A dark smile formed on Darcy's face at the announcement.
"Well, well, well, we have company." Darcy eerily spoke as she turned to Andrias. "Looks like we have a bit of an announcement to make to our well wishers."
A/N: Sorry for the wait for this chapter. Writing Sasha's area took longer than anticipated as she seems to be harder to write about then Darcy and Anne. Plus the month of May is always a busy month for me. Birthdays, my wedding anniversary, more birthdays, birthdays until the last day, etc. I'm going to try to have chapter 5 out sooner than July, but don't quote me on it. In addition, the end of this chapter's scene can be found on my DeviantArt's page labeled "Wedding in Amphibia".